


Just A Lost Little Girl Who Didn't Matter

by Just_a_Comet



Category: Le Fantôme de l'Opéra | Phantom of the Opera & Related Fandoms, Phantom - Susan Kay, Phantom of the Opera - Lloyd Webber
Genre: Adoption, And for Christine and Raoul to be happy, Father-Daughter Relationship, Fluff, I just want him to be happy okay, Just everyone be happy, Modern AU, Other, Recllings of abuse later on, deformed daughter, feels maybe, fun stuffs
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-11
Updated: 2018-07-11
Packaged: 2019-05-05 02:26:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,757
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14607231
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Just_a_Comet/pseuds/Just_a_Comet
Summary: Set in modern-day New York, Erik seeks out a legend far too familiar to his own, only to find precisely what he was looking for. Unable to leave the girl behind, he must find a way to raise her better than he was, and show her the love he longed so desperately for.





	1. Chapter 1

_She was born in the winter, in a land where the ground was always hard and the seasons only came in bitterly cold or suffocatingly hot. She didn’t cry when she came, only stared out with eyes like the void._

_“She won’t last the night” The doctors said._

_Only the most desperate of interns and battleworn of doctors would go near her, except when she cried. No one came near her then. No one could stand the way her cries wormed their way into your mind._

_“She won’t make it to the end of the week”_

_A particularly pitying nurse named her after the horrifying beauty of a dying star, and seemingly like her namesake she demanded her presence be felt._

_“I don’t give her more than a month.”_

_“If she makes it a year it will be a miracle.”_

_After three doctors stopped accepting her, leaving the mother alone with her. The father didn’t stay beyond the announcement of a baby. This would not last though. Most accounts gave her five years._

_They say no one found the body._

_They say at night, you still hear her haunting cries._

_The cries of a monster._

 

Erik could hardly believe he was doing this, everything logical in his mind told him this was insane. Yet ever since he’d overheard the story it’d clung to his thoughts, refusing to let go. So before he knew it he was in America, wandering Central Park. It couldn’t be real. America was notorious for its legends and cryptic tales. This was idiotic. _But all legends came from some truth._

“You looking for someone?” A voice accosted him, jarring him from his thoughts and making him turn to face the homeless man on a nearby bench on the otherwise lonely path.  
“Excuse me?”

“Yer the reaper ain’cha?”

“I think you have me mistaken, _monsieur_.”

“Young man, no sane adult is gonna go dicking around in a mask at night unless he’s lookin to kill.”

“What does he wear when he’s chasing a legend then?”

The man’s expression became guarded as he sat back. “Depends on the legend, son.”

“The girl who supposedly haunts the park.” The man gave no form of response so he pressed, almost desperately. “What exactly does the legend say?”

“What else could it? She was uglier than sin, face a mother couldn’t even love. Shoulda died early on but that would be merciful. Instead she started learning. They say the mother couldn’t take so she drowned her in the lake.”

“What do you say?” The words came out softer than he intended, but he suddenly felt as if his chest was in a vice.

“Why do you care so much?”

A shaky hand raised to his mask. How else could he possibly explain how important this was to him? Maybe the man wouldn’t scream, maybe the tiredness in his eyes meant he’d seen enough in his life to not outright attack him…..

To the man’s credit he gave no outright hint of fear or panic, merely studying him a long moment before nodding. He waited until it was back on before speaking. “I say the mother couldn’t stand to touch her long enough to drown her an’ just tossed her in while she was sleeping. Maybe some mutt or somethin drug her out. Who knows…..” He pulled a flask out of his coat and took a long swig. “But she sure as hell don’t cry no more.”

“So….she’s real….I can find her?”

“I ain’t the person to tell you real from not. No one who’s caught so much as a glimpse can. Maybe that’s what she wants. Maybe that’s what’s best…..”  
Erik wasn’t paying attention anymore, he was too busy shoving money into the man’s hand and taking off deeper into the park, away from the path. He had what he needed. He could find her.

The night was filled with noise, from cars to shouts to insects to dogs, it was almost overwhelming. One particular one was especially close, the dog, it’s barks and growls mixed together left him wondering it’s situation, before he could decide, he heard it. A yelp. A distinctly human one. It was past closing time for the park though.

‘Please’ His footsteps sped towards the sound, hoping, praying. He didn’t even have a plan, all thought of making one was thrown to the wayside for the singular thought of finding her. As he burst through the trees he saw the figure, hunched over, jump and turn for the woods, but he shot forward and latched onto her arm before she could.

And suddenly she looked at him, and they were locked in that moment by some omniscient force. She did not struggle, he did not pull. It was like looking through a window into the past, one that showed every pain, sadness, fear, in a single image. The cloth shielding her face was some old scarf with holes cut into it, her hair a wild tangled mess, almost every inch of her skin was covered, but what showed was bruised or scarred or, in the case of the bite on her hand, bleeding. The image was so visceral he found himself dropping to his knees, still holding onto her arm. “Oh god….”

  
The moment seemed to drag on for an eternity but when his legs gave out time surged forward like a bullet. She began thrashing and struggling, but te man was right, not once did she make another sound. He might as well have caught a stray cat rather than a child. She was so small….. He thought her arm might just snap with each pull. Suddenly she hauled back and struck him across the face with her free arm and his blood ran cold.

_‘No, not yet….not now….’_

He heard her breath catch and felt her freeze- no, not freeze, she went limp, like a puppet held up by just a single string. Before he could gather the will to face her, he felt a trembling hand graze his cheek, and when he looked up, her fingers were curling around the fabric of the scarf around her face.

“Please….” He finally found his voice again as he held her shoulders. “I’m not going to hurt you...I-” He couldn’t leave her, from the start he knew he never could, he might just die if he did. They way she looked at him with those big golden eyes, so painfully mixed with fear and confusion, so much like his own. “Come.” He quickly replaced the mask on his face and scooped her up, holding her head to his shoulder as he fled the park, never slowing his pace until they were safely in the hotel. Once she was set down, it struck him how _filthy_ she was. Her hair alone looked like a tangled mess of vines that demanded his attention first and foremost. He called down to the front desk and acquired a brush, comb, scissors, and as many shampoo and conditioner bottles as they could give him. While he set up she stood against the wall, watching his every move.

“Come here.” He gestured for her to come in. “Let’s see if we can get you cleaned up, hm?” She hesitated at the doorway, and he motioned again to the space he made for her, padded with towels. “I just want to see if I can get your hair cleaned up. Will you take the scarf off for me?” Her hand flew to the fabric and he held his own up. “Just long enough for me to do what I can, then you can have it back, or I’ll make you a new one.” He gingerly took her hand and pulled it away. “You’ve seen mine, you know we’re the same….I won’t do anything to hurt you, I promise, _angelique_.”

She searched his eyes, still apprehensive, but he managed to coax her onto the floor next to him and he gingerly uncovered her face. She could’ve been his daughter, aside from a few minor differences. He smiled despite himself. “There, that's not so bad.” He leaned her back over the tub and, rolling up his sleeves, set to work. It was slow going, trying to tame the matted mess without hurting her. For a while, he talked to her, telling her who he was, where he came from, small things like that, and when he ran out of things to say he simply hummed. Between it all, he almost didn’t notice her slowly relaxing under his hands.

An hour of twigs, empty bottles, and cutting later, he was finished, only taking a moment to comb it out and make sure his work was faultless. “Alright, if you have a handle on how the faucets work, I’ll let you do the rest, okay?” He slipped out, closing the door behind him, and started digging through his bag for something she could wear besides the rags he found her in. Eventually, he settled on a shirt that would reach her knees at least and used another to make a new mask for her. After setting them down in front of the bathroom door, he finally sat down to think.

How would he go from here, he had no house to take her home to. Would he be forced to make her live in the same dismal conditions he spent his latest years in, no daylight, where no amount of finery could hide the dank, cold, dark beyond it…..

He became so lost in thought he didn’t notice her come out, almost swallowed up by his shirt. Even with all the hair he cut off, the thick, inky locks still hung past her shoulders. He couldn’t help but smile despite it all. “There, that’s a far sight better, isn’t? Perhaps you’d like to tell me your name?”  
She looked away, instead gazing out the window. Could she even talk. She clearly understood, but she never gave any response. Likely she was too scared to, but muteness was still a possibility to consider. With a small sigh, he glanced out the window to see what she was staring at and froze.

“.....Go bring me that cloak.”


	2. An

Soooo sorry I haven't updated this. I'm moving from my moms house soon and its been crazy but I promise I'm trying. Right now I'm gonna jk rowlings this shit cuz I had some things to fix. Sorry, this is the first real time I've posted anything in 7 years, I'm trying. So yeah


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